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Mom walked into my room.
"Are you getting up today?" Mom asked.
"No. Taco, Dino, and I are staying here all day," I said.
"Well I don't know about Dino but you and Taco need some food in your tummies," Mom said.
"Pancakes?" I asked.
"Sure princess," Mom said picking me up. I reached for Dino and Mom handed him to me. Taco followed us downstairs with Liam. Alexis was doing some weird workout in the lounge while making some weird noises.
"You know, Gustav said these floors are more shock-absorbent than the ones in the loft," Alexis said.
There isn't enough padding in the world to absorb you," Mom said putting food on a plate for me while I was putting some fruit in a bowl. "This was Steven's going-away breakfast, not a revival of Flashdance,"
"Going away?" Alexis asked as we sat down. I sat on Mom's lap.
"I'm going to D.C. to meet with our federal reps about getting more technology education in schools. It's my campaign. Make sure Atlanta's students stay competitive," Uncle Steven said.
"Relax. No one's recording," Mom said.
"Well, I for one am so proud of you. And I am doubly glad to join you," Alexis said sitting down.
"Oh, God," Cristal said.
"Too late," Mom said.
"Can you pass the orange juice, Celia?" Alexis asked.
"Rude," Sam said.
"Oh, sorry. Cristal. A little birdie told me that you used to go by Celia. I see why you changed it. Sounds like that disease when people pretend they can't eat bread," Alexis said.
"I'll take my breakfast upstairs," Cristal said. I zoned out hiding my head in Mom's neck. She carried me upstairs. I ran upstairs and hid under my covers.
Timeskip
I hid under the covers with Dino and Taco. The cover was lifted and Mommy stood there.
"What's going on with you today?" Mommy asked. I just stayed silent. "Are you having a bad day?" Mom asked. I nodded. "Okay, is there anything you want to do?"
"I just wanna lay here," I said.
"Do you want me to lay with you?" Mom asked. I shook my head.
"I want to be alone please," I said.
"Okay, princess. Come find me if you need me," Mom said kissing my head.
"Okay," I said. Mom left after pulling the blanket back over me.
Timeskip
I walked into the dining room to find Liam.
"Hi Liam," I said.
"Hi Ella," Liam said.
"Where's my mom?" I asked.
"She's gone out. I don't think she'll be out long," Liam said.
"Okay," I said. "Will you come outside with me? I want to play outside but I'm not allowed outside alone,"
"Yeah," Liam said. We walked outside. Liam leaned against the wall while I bounced on the trampoline. I bounced around for a while until I got bored. Liam and I lay on the trampoline looking at the stars. Mom walked out.
"Have you eaten princess?" Mom asked.
"Nuh-uh," I said shaking my head. Liam walked inside.
"I picked up tacos and some nachos on the way home," Mom said.
"Can we eat out here please?" I asked.
"Sure princess," Mom said sitting on the trampoline next to me.
"Did you get cheese for the nachos?" I asked.
"I got you loaded nachos with minced beef, cheese, and tubs of guacamole and I got that cheese sauce you like," Mom said.
"Thank you," I said.
"You're welcome princess," Mom said kissing my hair.
Timeskip
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Grandpa took me to a car race while Mom was at a fashion party. The race ended we went to get food to eat on the way home. We drove home and I found Mom sitting in the drawing-room on the floor by the fireplace.
"Hey, you. Did you have fun with Grandpa?" Mom asked.
"Yeah. The cars were super fast and they were super loud. We got pictures too and I'm gonna draw the pictures for Daddy," I said.
"I'm glad you had fun," Mom said.
"Does Liam like cars? Maybe I can show him my pictures. Where is Liam?" I asked.
"Liam's gone home princess," Mom said.
"Okay," I said noticing that Mommy was upset. Taco sat on one side of Mommy while Bo sat on the other side of Mommy. "Why are you sad?"
"We argued," Mom said pulling me into her lap. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her cheek.
"Good news. Jeff agreed to your reduced asking price and he's already wired the money," Sam said walking in.
"Great," Mom said.
"What? Isn't that what you wanted?" Sam asked.
"Yep," Mom said.
"What's wrong? Why are you snuggling Bo, not Liam?" Sam asked.
"His name's not Liam," Mom said.
"What do you mean?" Sam asked.
"Liam Ridley's real name is Jack Lowden. He is a journalist who got a huge advance -to write a book about the Carringtons," Mom said.
"He Roman Holiday'd you? I hate to say it, but--" Mom cut off Sam.
"Yeah, I know. My mom was right. And I really liked Liam. Or... Jack," Mom said.
"He had really nice hands," Sam said.
"You know, my mother never taught me how to tie my shoes or use a tampon. She never taught me how to like a boy in a normal fashion... or maintain a relationship to save my life, but... I thought the upside of not being raised by her is that I wouldn't become her," Mom said.
"You're not. We don't see our mothers in the mirror until we're middle-aged," Sam said.
"But I already do," Mom said.
"You're not Alexis because you don't yell at me unless I'm running on the stairs," I said. "You're my mommy and I love you more than anything in the world,"
"I love you too princess," Mommy said. "Let's go watch movies," I nodded.
